Profs hired by V-C with ‘CPM links’ remain unpaid

Statesman News Service | June 24, 2013 8:29 pm

poulomi ghosh
KOLKATA, 16 JUNE: Three professors of Kalyani University are not being paid salaries for the past three months as they were appointed during the tenure of the earlier Vice-Chancellor who allegedly had CPI-M connections.
An inquiry commission has been constituted to look into the validity of the appointments after the Trinamul government appointed its own V-C earlier this year, while the three of them are coming to the university and taking their classes.
Incidentally, two of them are from the Sociology department, which is at present headed by Professor Debjani Deb, wife of CPI-M&’s Goutam Deb.
The other faculty member is a professor at the International Centre of Ecological Engineering, a new department created out of the existing Sociology department. Another one might have faced the same fate if he had joined the department.
Mr Alok Banerjee, the former V-C of Kalyani University issued four appointment letters a few days before his term ended on 8 February ~ two for the Sociology department and two for ecological engineering. Since Mr Banerjee was appointed during the Left regime, he was believed to have strong Left connection. In October, last year, the higher education council issued an order putting an embargo on all selection processes of the university. A section of the insiders claim that the appointments of these three professors violated that embargo. And since the V-C issued the letters at the fag end of his term hurriedly, those appointments are now under scanner.
“But the fact is that the three professors are not getting their salaries and being threatened that they might lose their job if the inquiry commission finds any irregularity with the appointment. One of the three professors came from Japan and now his job is at stake,” said a teacher of the university.
Prof Debjani Deb, head of the department said: “They have not received their salaries till date. Initially we thought it was the usual delay that happens when a new faculty joins as there are some routine procedures. But then it was said that an inquiry commission has been formed to look into the appointments and the university authorities told that they can do nothing unless the commission files its report.”
The inquiry team comprises Prof Subha Sankar Sarkar, V-C of Netaji Subhas Open University, Prof Sabyasachi Basu Roy Chowdhury V-C of Rabindra Bharati University, Prof Koushik Gupta, V-C of West Bengal State University and a faculty of Calcutta University, law department. “I don’t see any irregularity in those appointments as the selection was done much before the embargo was imposed,” said Alok Banerjee, the former V-C of Kalyani University.